Renewable Energy

The use of renewable energy protects the environment and takes both society and industry closer to the goal of achieving sustainability. Based on Yokogawa's VigilantPlant concept for attaining operational excellence, we are providing solutions that pave the way to the use of renewable energy sources.

Geothermal energy can generate a stable supply of electricity throughout the year because it is not dependent on weather conditions. Also, as no fuels are burned aboveground and only extremely small amounts of carbon dioxide are released, it is environmentally friendly. There are abundant geothermal resources along the circum-Pacific belt (also known as the “Ring of Fire”), in countries such as Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the United States, as well countries such as Iceland, Turkey, and Italy that are located in other geothermally active regions. To date, Yokogawa has participated in 30 geothermal power generation projects in Japan, Southeast Asia, and other regions, providing a variety of measurement and control technologies that enhance the reliability and maintenance efficiency of geothermal power generation systems.

Biomass is increasingly in the news these days as it is a renewable energy source that can help thermal power plants reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. Yokogawa systems are used all over the world in all types of power plants, including those that use biomass. Yokogawa measurement and control technologies make it possible for these plants to operate more efficiently and reduce their carbon footprint.

Waste disposal presents an ever-growing challenge in urban areas. Waste-to-energy (WTE) technology provides an environmentally sound solution to this problem that also addresses the growing need for alternate energy sources. Over 150 waste-to-energy plants and other types of waste incineration facilities all over the world rely on a Yokogawa control system solution. Yokogawa measurement and control technologies thus play a key infrastructure role in making our world cleaner and more efficient.

The sun is an inexhaustible source of clean energy, and humans have used this in a variety of ways down through the ages. Today, solar power generation is a topic of considerable interest as it is one of the most efficient and cost-effective means for the large-scale utilization of the sun’s thermal energy. With a track record of more than 1,300 power plant projects around the world, Yokogawa has the knowledge and expertise to help concentrated solar power generation, a type of the solar power plants operate efficiently and safely.

Wind is an inexhaustible natural energy source that humans have used in one way or another for millennia. At present, wind power plants, which use wind energy to generate electricity, are in operation around the world. A great many wind farms with large numbers of wind turbines have been constructed in recent years around the world, and offshore wind farms are now becoming popular, particularly in Europe.
Yokogawa’s controllers are widely used in many wind farms. In addition, Yokogawa has implemented an integrated monitoring and control system at a wind farm in Japan that utilizes a 34-megawatt battery storage system. Yokogawa provides a variety of measurement and control technologies that help to ensure the stable supply of power supply by making operations more efficient and by enabling remote and centralized monitoring of multiple wind power generation systems.

Hydropower is the most widely-used renewable source of energy and plays a major role in electricity generation in some regions. Yokogawa supplies control and instrumentation products and solutions for hydropower plants around the world.

Ocean thermal energy conversion is a technology that converts thermal energy into electricity. Tropical and sub-tropical regions where the water temperature at the ocean surface is relatively high are best suited for its use. For this process to work there must be at least a 20 degree Celsius (36 degree Fahrenheit) difference between surface water and deep seawater. A special feature of this technology is its capability to generate a stable supply of electricity around the clock. It is thus well suited for meeting baseload demand.
In addition, the deep seawater used for power generation can be put to use in secondary applications that can contribute to local industry and promote the local economy in remote island communities.

Okinawa Prefecture is promoting clean energy with the aim of becoming a low-carbon society in the 21st century. Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) technology is particularly well suited for this purpose, and is expected to both reduce the environmental impact that power generation has in the prefecture and lessen the prefecture's dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Aboitiz Power Corporation is a holding company that was set up by the Aboitiz Group to oversee its investments in power generation, distribution, retail, and services. The company owns and operates several hydroelectric and geothermal power plants as well as a number of non-renewable power facilities throughout the Philippines. It also owns distribution utilities that are centered in high-growth areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Industrial hydrogen fuel cells can be used to produce hydrogen and oxygen from distilled water as well as run in reverse to generate electricity. Fuel cells can also be used in conjunction with intermittent energy sources like solar or wind to provide regulated continuous energy output.

Geothermal power plants create electricity from geothermal energy. These power plants are similar to other steam turbine station; however their heat source is that of the earth's core. The created steam is used to turn the turbine for the production of electricity. Technologies include Dry steam, Flash steam and Binary cycle power stations with Binary cycle being the most common geothermal plant in current production. In the process of geothermal power generation the facility needs to monitor various processes, as in this case steam line pressure sits in remote from control room's location.

The worlds of process automation and production management have been converging for some time. What once used to be islands of automation and production management functionality connected through highly proprietary integration schemes that were costly to maintain have developed into integrated platforms that provide seamless data exchange between the world of automation and the plant floor, the functions of production and operations management, and integration with business level systems.

The automation suppliers that will be successful in the long term will be those that effectively address application or industry specific problems for end users with a value proposition that cannot be ignored. These problems exist throughout the process industries today, and they won't be solved by simply offering a product, but through a combination of hardware, software, services, application expertise, and knowledge.

In ARC's view, customers need a compelling business value proposition to justify investment in any kind of automation. Vigilance and VigilantPlant were created with this in mind. Yokogawa's vision with VigilantPlant is to create an environment where plant personnel and operators are well informed, alert, and ready to take action.

Yokogawa has come a long way in making its message clear to the world of process automation. Last year, the company embarked on a full-scale global marketing campaign to make customers aware of the company's focus on system reliability, security, dependability, and robustness. Dubbed "Vigilance", the campaign created a unified message for the company and greatly helped expand awareness of the Yokogawa brand and corporate philosophy.

Process automation end users are under more pressure than ever to do more with less. The current economic climate means that many automation capital projects are on hold. With capital budgets tighter than ever, users instead focus on operational budgets (where cost cutting is also a key concern), or on automation investments with a very rapid return on investment.

In today's dynamic industrial marketplace, the only constant is change. Raw material costs, energy costs, market demands, environmental and safety regulations, technology, and even the nature of the labor force itself are constantly changing, and not always in predictable directions.

Environmental friendliness (E) must be assessed in today's product design in addition to the conventional design considerations of quality (Q), cost (C), and lead time (D). Hence, the product design system must be urgently restructured in order to minimize the environmental impact of a product throughout its life-cycle from purchase of the materials and parts, through manufacturing and distribution, to use and disposal.